player

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: play=er

CIDE DICTIONARY

player, n. 

•  One who plays, or amuses himself; one without serious aims; an idler; a trifler.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
•  One who plays any game.  [1913 Webster]
•  A dramatic actor.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
•  One who plays on an instrument of music.  1 Sam. xvi. 16.  [1913 Webster]
•  A gamester; a gambler.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

player, n.
1 a person taking part in a sport or game.
2 a person playing a musical instrument.
3 a person who plays a part on the stage; an actor.
4 = record-player.

Idiom

player-piano a piano fitted with an apparatus enabling it to be played automatically.

Etymology

OE plegere (as PLAY)

THESAURUS

player

Roscius, actor, actress, adventurer, amateur athlete, antagonist, archer, artist, artiste, athlete, bad guy, ballplayer, barnstormer, baseballer, baseman, batter, battery, betting ring, bettor, blocking back, boneshaker, bowman, cardshark, cardsharp, cardsharper, carouser, catcher, center, character, character actor, character man, character woman, child actor, coach, competitor, compulsive gambler, concert artist, contender, contestant, corrival, crap shooter, cricketer, cutup, defensive lineman, diseur, diseuse, dramatizer, emulator, end, entertainer, entrant, executant, feeder, foil, footballer, frisker, frolicker, funmaker, gambler, gamboler, games-player, gamester, guard, hazarder, heavy, histrio, histrion, impersonator, infielder, ingenue, instrumentalist, interpreter, jock, jumper, juvenile, lineman, maestro, matinee idol, merrymaker, mime, mimer, mimic, minstrel, minstrelsy, monologist, mummer, music maker, musician, offensive lineman, outfield, outfielder, pantomime, pantomimist, participant, performer, petty gambler, piker, playactor, playboy, pleasure-seeker, pleasurer, pleasurist, plunger, poloist, professional athlete, protean actor, pugilist, punter, quarterback, racer, reciter, reveler, rival, rollicker, sharp, sharper, sharpie, skater, skylarker, soloist, soubrette, speculator, sport, sporting man, sportsman, sportswoman, stage performer, stage player, stooge, straight man, stroller, strolling player, tackle, tailback, the field, theatrical, thespian, tinhorn, tipster, tout, toxophilite, trouper, tunester, utility man, venturer, vier, villain, virtuosa, virtuoso, wagerer, wingback, wrestler

ROGET THESAURUS

player

The Drama

N the drama, the stage, the theater, the play, film the film, movies, motion pictures, cinema, cinematography, theatricals, dramaturgy, histrionic art, buskin, sock, cothurnus, Melpomene and Thalia, Thespis, play, drama, stage play, piece, five-act play, tragedy, comedy, opera, vaudeville, comedietta, lever de rideau, interlude, afterpiece, exode, farce, divertissement, extravaganza, burletta, harlequinade, pantomime, burlesque, opera bouffe, ballet, spectacle, masque, drame comedie drame, melodrama, melodrame, comidie larmoyante, sensation drama, tragicomedy, farcical-comedy, monodrame monologue, duologue trilogy, charade, proverbs, mystery, miracle play, musical, musical comedy, western, horse opera, flick, spy film, love story, adventure film, documentary, nature film, pornographic film, smoker, skin flick, X-rated film, act, scene, tableau, induction, introduction, prologue, epilogue, libretto, performance, representation, mise en scene, stagery, jeu de theatre, acting, gesture, impersonation, stage business, gag, buffoonery, light comedy, genteel comedy, low comedy, theater, playhouse, opera house, house, music hall, amphitheater, circus, hippodrome, theater in the round, puppet show, fantoccini, marionettes, Punch and Judy, auditory, auditorium, front of the house, stalls, boxes, pit, gallery, parquet, greenroom, coulisses, flat, drop, drop scene, wing, screen, side scene, transformation scene, curtain, act drop, proscenium, stage, scene, scenery, the boards, trap, mezzanine floor, flies, floats, footlights, offstage, orchestra, theatrical costume, theatrical properties, movie studio, back lot, on location, part, role, character, dramatis personae, repertoire, actor, thespian, player, method actor, stage player, strolling player, stager, performer, mime, mimer, artists, comedian, tragedian, tragedienne, Roscius, star, movie star, star of stage and screen, superstar, idol, sex symbol, supporting actor, supporting cast, ham, hamfatter, masker, pantomimist, clown harlequin, buffo, buffoon, farceur, grimacer, pantaloon, columbine, punchinello, pulcinello, pulcinella, extra, bit- player, walk-on role, cameo appearance, mute, figurante, general utility, super, supernumerary, company, first tragedian, prima donna, protagonist, jeune premier, debutant, debutante, light comedian, genteel comedian, low comedian, walking gentleman, amoroso, heavy father, ingenue, jeune veuve, mummer, guiser, guisard, gysart, masque, mountebank, Jack Pudding, tumbler, posture master, acrobat, contortionist, ballet dancer, ballet girl, chorus singer, coryphee danseuse, property man, costumier, machinist, prompter, call boy, manager, director, stage manager, acting manager, producer, entrepreneur, impresario, backer, investor, angel, dramatic author, dramatic writer, play writer, playwright, dramatist, mimographer, dramatic, theatric, theatrical, scenic, histrionic, comic, tragic, buskined, farcical, tragicomic, melodramatic, operatic, stagy, on the stage, on the boards, on film, before the floats, before an audience, behind the scenes, fere totus mundus exercet histrionem, suit the action to the word, the word to the action, the play's the thing, to wake the soul by tender strokes of art.

Musician

N musician, artiste, performer, player, minstrel, bard, accompanist, accordionist, instrumentalist, organist, pianist, violinist, flautist, harper, fiddler, fifer, trumpeter, piper, drummer, catgut scraper, band, orchestral waits, vocalist, melodist, singer, warbler, songster, chaunter, chauntress, songstress, cantatrice, choir, quire, chorister, chorus, chorus singer, liedertafel, nightingale, philomel, thrush, siren, bulbul, mavis, Pierides, sacred nine, Orpheus, Apollo, the Muses Erato, Euterpe, Terpsichore, tuneful nine, tuneful quire, composer, performance, execution, touch, expression, solmization, playing, musical, adagio, andante.